From the Valenza Trip Journal

Day 14

Today began early for our trip to the island of Nevis. We were greeted with a cloudy sunrise and rain, which quickly turned into wind and sunshine as we cleared Saba. Long sails mean no dives, though, and soon almost the entire group was asleep in various places around the boat as the skipper and whoever was at the helm (the group went through rotations) guided us to Nevis. In the words of one student: "It was exciting and a little sad to look back up at the mountain of Saba and think, we did that. How many people have an opportunity to look at a mountain and say, I climbed that?" We were all able to catch up on our reading, sleeping and tanning during the trip. After four days in Saba, it felt good to be sailing somewhere again.

We arrived in Nevis refreshed and ready for a good dinner. Before we were allowed to think of a meal, however, it was time to spruce up the salon and do the dishes so that we would be ready for an evening of fun. Fortunately, our companions aboard the Xenon III (UDA21), who had arrived the day before, already had that well under way. An island chef named Hanina cooked a meal good enough to fill all of the stomachs of both boats -- and even had some to spare! She cooked a traditional island meal: fried plantains, breadfruit salad, beans and rice, meat and chicken.

With the crew of the Valenza joining that of the Xenon, it was a crowded -- but lively -- party. It was fun to trade adventure stories and dive sites and to talk to people we hadn't seen since docking in Gustavia. In addition, some of us even made new friends that we hadn't known previously. It was nice to have an evening of fun, music, dancing and just plain hanging out for a change -- no dives or water sports today. That will change shortly, as UDA22 plans to take full advantage of all that the island of Nevis has to offer: water skiing, tubing, diving and, possibly, a visit to the town.

Despite having slept for most of the trip, the group of UDA22 felt that a sleep in the sun is still not enough sleep, and turned in early tonight to get a head start on tomorrow's activities.

Miriam